Echoes

I set out on new waters and I am immediately pleased.  I lay my paddle on the gunwales and the echo reverberates off of the forest walls unanswered by undesired sounds.  That echo always reminds me of Lake Ozette, which was so still that I would here the sound repeated 3 or 4 times before it died out.

I expected less.  But, a thick growth of deciduous leaves reach out from the bank, touching the water, and cloaking the surrounding forest from my prying eyes.  Unless one gets up close, it is just a lush wall of green. 

When near the bank I can often see an old rock wall just above the water, a reminder that this was once farmland of one sort or another.  Sometimes, a wall comes off the bank and goes into the depths, a reminder that this water is a reservoir.  That wall that follows the shore is too coincidental to be ancient.  It can likely be dated to the age of the dam, a wall built to keep animals from falling off the bank into the water.  The walls running into the water are a different matter.

A circling pattern of bubbles requires investigation.  It turns out to be a drowning cicada.  ONce in the canoe, it takes a few moments for it to gain strength enough to move.  I give it a lift to shore.

Pond Brook, Housatonic and Shepaug Rivers.